Corporate Campuses Save Money with Natural Landscaping

If your company has an interest in sustainability, native landscapes are a natural choice. Shareholders and investors are increasingly interested in companies that hold sustainability as one of their top corporate business strategies. A Ceres study found that 53% of companies surveyed were engaging investors on sustainability initiatives, up from 40% in 2012.

Unlike turf, established native plants do not require supplemental fertilizing, watering, or mowing. They can withstand the varied conditions of our region of heat, drought, heavy rain, and frigid winters, and come back year after year.

According to a WHEC study by Schueler and Holland, corporate landowners can save approximately 40% in management costs by maintaining their properties as natural areas instead of the traditional mowed turfgrass. Even better, the cost of establishing native landscape from scratch has been shown to cost 52% less than turf.

In addition to the obvious cost savings, native landscapes provide a number of environmental benefits, sometimes called environmental “services” that turfgrass does not. The deep root systems of native plants help channel stormwater downward into the soil, rather than letting it run off as with mowed turf. They also help reduce erosion on steep slopes and around retaining ponds by holding the soil in place. Native plants evolved with our native insects and birds, which have a dependence on the pollen, nectar, and seeds they produce. Turfgrass and introduced species do not provide much for birds and butterflies, and in some cases, actually can do them harm.